Category: Magician Feature

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Sad News: Glenn Falkenstein Passes

We received word last night that Glen Falkenstein, long-time partner and husband of Frances Willard passed away in a nursing facility on July 4th.

According to Dodd Vickers’ always informative The Magic Newswire and a bulletin from Alan Watson, Mr. Falkenstein’s death was due to advanced Alzheimer’s disease after a very brief stay in a nursing facility.

Mr. Vickers has included a heart-breaking note from a friend of the great performer.  Apparently Mr. Falkenstein suffered for years as the disease took his memory and memories.  Mr. Falkenstein hid his illness through feigned recollection of people and events.  Less than two weeks ago, Mr. Falkenstein was unable to recognize even a close friend and could no longer hide the true state of his health.

Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease that causes pain to so many in addition to the patient.   So many families have been affected by this unrelenting, wasting attack on that which we as humans treasure most, our memories.

We add our prayers to those offered around the world for Mr. Falkenstein’s family and loved-ones.  We met him and the beautiful Frances Willard after one of their performances.  He was gracious and incredibly charismatic.  He withstood our fusillade of effusive praise as if it was the first time he had heard such compliments from a fan within or outside of the magic community.

We will post information about any memorial service or preferred charity for donations in Mr. Falkenstein’s name.

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Terry Evanswood Finds Permanent Home in Tennessee

So, you know how it is, how it goes, and all that stuff. And then you miss the chance to see something really amazing and you are reminded of your failure everywhere and all the time.

We missed out on the chance to see Terry Evanswood and his highly touted Wonders of Magic show at Wonderworks in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We wanted to see it. We planned to see it and even Google Mapped it. But our rig had problems as we left Kentucky and it didn’t get any better as we moved into the mountains heading south.

We were driving the big semi through Tennesee on our way to Florida for what turned out to be a month-long engagement in Orlando and the better part of the week in West Palm Beach.

We could have made Pigeon Forge only by driving it hard. We’d have to be averaging 60 mph for the next few hours and hope for no traffic. The mountains made it impossible to keep anywhere near 60 or even 50. The traffic did not help much either.

Our Kenworth’s nose crossed the Pigeon Forge city line exactly when Terry Evanswood was likely taking his final bows in the final show of the day.

For the rest of our time in Florida and along our trip back to Mystic Hollow, Michigan, we saw constant reminders of our poor timing and horrible luck.

Tonight, we read news of Terry Evanswood’s success at Wonder Works.

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Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Vegas Celebrates Mac King Day


Photograph by Steve Spatafore from Las Vegas Sun


After Memorial Day, one may wear white pants and white shoes. After Mac King Day, plaid jackets may be adorned with impunity.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman declared yesterday, May 4th to be “Mac King Day.”

In our book, everyday is Mac King Day except for October 31st, held for our solemn observation of Houdini’s death.

“Growing up in a family of magicians, magic has been my life,” Mac said. “I am truly honored to be celebrating 10 years with my show at Harrah’s Las Vegas. This is an exciting time for me, and I can’t wait to celebrate with the audience this afternoon.”

Mac King performed 5,200 shows for more than 1 million people at the main showroom at Harrah’s. He told Robin Leach of the Las Vegas Sun “that translates into 2,600 days of wearing his trademark plaid suits; 15,600 feet of rope used for his rope trick; 270,400 playing cards; 15,600 magically appearing Fig Newtons; and 26,000 audience volunteers pulled up onstage.”

The nice man and great magician comes from a family of magicians — both grandfathers were performers. He fell in love with the craft after checking out a library book — presumably about magic.

Check out Robin Leach’s complete article on Mac and his life in the spotlight at The Las Vegas Sun.

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Scarlett Pleads No Contest to Attack on Mentor

Injured Magician John Lewis and Scarlett in Booking PhotoThe Las Vegas Review-Journal’sMike Weatherford provides a lengthy piece on the how, what, and to some extent, the why of events leading to Rachel Jessee’s guilty plea and conviction for battery last month.

We reported on Ms. Jessee’s rapid rise to fame and attempt to become the preeminent female magician in Las Vegas.

We interviewed Ms. Jessee for the Inside Magic Celebrity Interview section as she began a three month run at the Riviera.

While it seemed unlikely anyone could make it to the big show with less than five years in the business, Ms. Jessee seemed to have the backing, momentum, and charisma to make it happen.

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Magic News, Magician Feature

Sad News: Jerry Conklin Passes

Jerry M. Conklin, a regular at Abbott’s Get Togethers and lead of the long-touring Amazing Conklins lost his battle with cancer on Monday, March 29, 2010.   He was 82.

Mr. Conklin was born in Battle Creek and served in the U.S. Army’s Special Services Entertainment Division after high school.  He married his partner in life and magic, Shirley Robertson on June 24, 1951.  Shirley passed away in 1987.

From the Sturgis Journal of March 31, 2010:

“In 1961, Jerry moved his family to Colon and began working at Abbott’s Magic Company.  Soon afterwards, he became a professional magician, and the ”family of magic” known as The Amazing Conklins traveled throughout the United States, Nova Scotia, New Foundland, Quebec and New Brunswick.  In the 1960s they performed at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Criss Angel – We’re Kind of Over It

Criss Angel with One Time Squeeze, Holly MadisonThis may be apostasy or just dumb politics but a recent in-house poll of the Inside Magic staff reveals we’re over Criss Angel.

This regretful admission comes on news of Criss Angel’s purchase of a $25,000,000.00 home and plans for the next Mindfreak season.

Could we be vaguer in our description?

Is “vaguer” a word?

At one time, we thought Criss Angel was doing great things for Magic and while we were not big fans of hanging by meat hooks as performance art, we respected his willingness to try new directions.

We were psyched he hired so many talented magicians as he readied his Mindfreak show. Johnny Thompson, Banachek, Steve Daly, Milt Larsen and others. They were the real deal, folks who know our art and have experience in big theaters and small close-up venues.

Yes, Mr. Angel’s use of the camera trickery was unfortunate but to paraphrase Chinatown, “It’s Hollywood, Jake.” We pretended not to care. Still, Houdini did not use camera tricks – even when he was filming his own stunts for the Houdini Motion Picture Company. There is no evidence that Robert-Houdin used video editing either.

There could be an argument made that David Copperfield has used cameras in a less than transparent manner, but his choice of a camera’s point of view or field of vision pales in comparison to the Criss Angel method.

We refused to contemplate too deeply the serial dating of starlets and wannabes proclaiming his undying love for each publicly with the abandon we normally associate with teen crushes.
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Magician Feature

Today in Magic History: Houdini is Born

According to The New York Times, March 24, 1874 is the birthday of Erich Weiss. The paper was not so prescient as to cover the birth of the child who would one day become the foremost performer of his time and, for our money, for all time.

The Times pegs today as Houdini’s birthday in retrospect, through its obituary published on November 1, 1926 – a day after the magician’s death in Detroit.

Much of the article was likely prepared in advance of his death; perhaps during ten days he endured the certainly inhuman pain of the virulent infection wracking his body.

We owe a debt to the unnamed author of the piece identified as a “Special to The New York Times” likely written by a freelance reporter for the paper. He or she included new – at least to us – anecdotes about Houdini and his rise to world fame.

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Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Truly Grand: Boston’s Le Grand David Featured

The Boston Globe provides an excellent retrospective on one of the unique stars of our craft.

As, Le Grand David celebrates its 33rd year, The Globe asks how much longer it can exist.

The show, the theater, the performers, and the audience are an anachronism to a time that may have never existed.

The Globe asked Magic Magazine Editor, Stan Allen to speculate on the show within a show’s future.

That’s a very big question,” he said.  “Le Grand David is very unusual, and the way the show came about is very unusual. There isn’t anything usual about it.  It is as close to Brigadoon as anything in magic that we have.  It doesn’t pack up its tent and go away.”

Like the mythical Scottish village that appears for one day each century, Le Grand David has been a constant but almost ethereal presence in Magic.

Be sure to check out the full article in The Globe.

Visit the show’s web site for great images, information, and show schedule.

Magic News, Magician Feature

Gimmicked Coins Can Enhance Even the Best Sleights

The Secret is Skill and TechnologyThis is revised (we made it English) and republished from the January 25, 2006 edition of Inside Magic.

There are two arguments one must avoid when one attends a magic convention

Both will destroy relationships, hurt feelings, cause resentment, ulcers, and emotional distress

They are the elephant-sized subjects we all pretend are not there

One of those two arguments is “should a great coin magician ever use gimmicked coins?”

Please understand our position from the outset. We have no pride — at all. But that is a family trait

Uncle, Billy “Bats-n-Balls” Hardy worked as a juggler during vaudeville’s heaving death-throws

In an unfortunate and inexplicable juggling accident, Billy sliced off his right ear

Continue reading “Gimmicked Coins Can Enhance Even the Best Sleights” →

Latest Magic News, Magician Feature

Steve Dacri’s Tribute to Carl Ballantine

Steve Dacri wrote a wonderful tribute to Carl Ballantine.

He graciously gave permission for Inside Magic to re-publish here for our readers.

Whilst we were formatting the essay, we began to get a lump in our throat and by the end, we were in tears but with a smile.  We really miss The World’s Greatest Magician, are envious of the friendship he shared with Steve Dacri, and so grateful Steve allowed us to republish his work here.

Steve Dacri and Carl BallantineThe phone rang, it was a little after noon. The familiar gravelly voice said, “Where are we having dinner?”

It was Carl Ballantine.

For a number of years, when we lived in Los Angeles not far from  Carl’s Hollywood house, we had dinner at least 5 times a week  together. It would start with the phone call, and we would plan the location. Sometimes it was a restaurant, other times, it was  his house where he would cook a fabulous meal, and sometimes it was our house, which meant Jan and I cooked for him.

About an hour before the meal, I would drive to his house and pick him up. He would always have the cigar in his hand, and he’d climb into my car and I would say, “Carl, I have never smoked in my car.” And he would say something like, “you should try it.”  Then he would re-light his stogie and off we went. He always had a few stops to make along the way (the news stand for the Daily Racing Form, or the coin change machine to cash in some of his seemingly endless supply of gigantic bags of money, for example.)

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